As a member of the Army's 75th Ranger Regiment, Kyle Krch learned a thing or two about discipline, hard work, sacrifice and dedication. The elite special forces branch of the Army requires its members to be ready to deploy anywhere in the world with just 18 hours notice, and be ready for pretty much anything. It makes a person nimble, to say the least.
The ability to adapt quickly is a skill Krch now brings to Krch Realty, the real estate company he started in 2005. In the military, Krch was an intelligence analyst who spent Monday through Friday behind a desk analyzing data, while weekends were spent jumping out of airplanes and rolling in the mud. Today, Krch is successfully navigating the terrain of rapid change in the real estate industry.
He grew up in Ely. His two older sisters both attended the University of Nevada, Reno, but he had other plans. With an eye toward a career in law enforcement, Krch joined the Rangers right out of high school.
"I gave up scholarships to go in the military. My mom didn't stop crying for about two months," Krch says. "But after graduation, she was so proud."
Krch spent four years with the Rangers, a time he says was both grueling and amazing.
"The best thing I learned in the military? Myself. It pushes you to your limits and past. Every day, I thought, 'What the hell am I doing.' But it's a leadership school," he says.
Toward the end of his stint, he decided not to re-enlist for another eight years. That decision changed his life in more ways than he imagined.
His last day in the military was Sept. 3, 2001. Eight days later when the towers fell, Krch called his regiment to see if he could re-enlist. It felt personal; during his service he'd had a picture of Osama bin Laden on his computer and was part of the group tracking him in the late '90s.
But he did not go back in the military, and less than a month later, he was in California working as a contractor for a tech company.
Not only had his career taken a sharp turn, but fate intervened again and he met his wife, Sandra. Krch kept on the move with his job, but when the locations took him further and further from Sandra, it was time to make another change. He took a tech job in Reno, and Sandra, a dietitian, followed. The couple has been married for seven years.
Krch had been making investments in Reno property since his days in the Army; he says he never had time to spend his money, so real estate was an easy choice.
When he moved to Reno, the desire to travel for work diminished and he decided to take a chance on real estate as a career. He got his license in June 2003, and started working for Century 21. He knew he'd make considerably less than his previous job, but otherwise, his new career didn't offer any major surprises.
"I was so naive, nothing really surprised me," Krch remembers, then laughing, adds: "The hours are incredible."
Once he got into the business, he always knew he'd open his own firm, and when he became a broker, Krch Realty was launched.
His technology background is evident in his company's Web site and the tools he offers his clients and staff. After the birth of his sons, Jordan who is 2-1/2, and Cameron who is 6 months, Krch started thinking about how he could grow his business, but he cut his hours to be with his family more. He began hiring agents, new and established, to sell for him. He gets a cut of their sales, and in return he offers them training, flexibility, tools like an intranet for communication and resources, and his experience.
"Every time I failed, I failed in a really hot market. So I had a little more wiggle room and I could learn without it ending my career," Krch says. "Now I pass that along."
Failure has never been a factor for Krch, simply because he's not afraid of it, he says. To that end, he opened a small satellite office in Las Vegas a year ago to give the southern Nevada market a try.
"You have to be willing to gamble. I like having to answer 'what if' ... I can't be as risky with two little ones, but we can go back at anytime to where we were," he says of his growing company.
Sandra is now part of that growing company, and she takes clients through the escrow process. Her decision to change careers and start again is not lost on her husband.
"She's one of the reasons we do so well. She's amazing. This is as much her as it is me," he says.
Krch hopes to be the dominant real estate company in the area in five years, and he thinks because the company is small and fast, it just might happen.
The basics:
Who: Kyle Krch, broker and owner, Krch Realty
Family: Wife Sandra and two sons; Jordan 2-1/2 and Cameron, 6 months.
He says: "It should be a high school requirement to read 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad.' If you've got your financial stuff in order, you can do anything."
